I ordered mine a few days ago, I’ll let you know how it arrives.

Mine should arrive from Blackwell's this coming Monday. I will see how mine looks and report back.

Alan wrote:

Mine should arrive from Blackwell's this coming Monday. I will see how mine looks and report back.

I just received mine. And yes, they do protrude a bit from the box. Not as much as yours do, but it is there. What a strange "defect".

I'm in the US, btw.

Thanks for answering!

That's definitely not correct.

I emailed Harper, they say this is "normal" and not a defect😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ok then.

Harper Collins 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤷🤷🤷🤷

I guess you need to collect pictures from some people here that show the books actually fitting into the box, and you can ask them why there are two different sizes of box, and what to do about protecting the dustjackets that poke out.

I think it is partly poor fitment of the dust jackets (not pulled very tight before folding). A lot of the protrusion is actually jacket, not book. If the jackets were a bit tighter, it would probably be within normal tolerances of a mass-produced trade-edition product. I think it is a combination of the two factors (jacket looseness and slightly undersized box) that probably makes some sets look worse than others. I don't have the set (and have no plans to buy it), so this is just speculation based on the images here.

You're very right partially, we see that defect in HoMe boxsets too. I myself have tightened the jackets and it improves.

But in my slipcase you see the very textblock outside the case! The very pages are already collecting dust...

Even funnier is that I wrote to HC and they won't do anything. So I'm left with this half case and a full discontent.

A pity what HC has become; i wish they had some competence so they had to fight for retaining customers... and not this monopoly, that led to this zero-quality control/wallet-leeches policy...🫤🫤🫤

Joselillo3 wrote:

You're very right partially, we see that defect in HoMe boxsets too. I myself have tightened the jackets and it improves.

But in my slipcase you see the very textblock outside the case! The very pages are already collecting dust...

Even funnier is that I wrote to HC and they won't do anything. So I'm left with this half case and a full discontent.

A pity what HC has become; i wish they had some competence so they had to fight for retaining customers... and not this monopoly, that led to this zero-quality control/wallet-leeches policy...🫤🫤🫤

I think the fact that a large proportion of buyers are so undiscerning is a key problem. HC can sell sloppy product and still make increased profits year-on-year. It is a side-effect of Tolkien's popularity in a not-very-educated (in terms of book quality) boom-time market, I guess.

"I think the fact that a large proportion of buyers are so undiscerning is a key problem. HC can sell sloppy product and still make increased profits year-on-year. It is a side-effect of Tolkien's popularity in a not-very-educated (in terms of book quality) boom-time market, I guess."

To add my 2c to the comments of the Late Stu and others, I think the only way forward as a collector is not to be a completist. In other words, focus on quality rather than quantity. I wont be buying the new box set and didnt get the HOME sets either as I already have these in other formats. All that saved money goes on higher quality Tolkien purchases. I agree HC are primarily a business making money for their share holders. Same goes for Folio. These are not charities. The new material (like the brilliant complete poems set from last year) are a different matter of course.

Personally, I am still recovering from the deluxe History of the Hobbit. I still, over a year later, cannot believe HC had the nerve to serve that one up for us TBH.

Yeah, I think it seems to be related to how few people may bring it up to HC. I’ll go ahead and reach out myself and show them what mine looks like. I suppose every little bit of feedback helps.